236 WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS CHAP. 



mahout, the bear suddenly uprose from the high grass, and stand- 

 ing upon its hind legs, it faced us at about 40 yards' distance, 

 affording a magnificent chance for a deadly shot Away went 

 Hurri Ram again, whisking round before I had a moment to fire ; 

 and after two successive chances of this kind, the bear escaped 

 into the opposite jungle, and we searched for it in vain. 



We now returned, and with some difficulty drove Hurri Ram 

 to the scene of conflict. There was a bear lying dead. The howls 

 and roars had ceased, and a few yards to the left of the dead bear 

 was a large black mass : this was another bear, in the last gasp. 

 Both had been knocked over by only one bullet from the 

 Paradox. 



Although I had only seen one bear, and that most indistinctly, 

 it appeared that the bullet, being intensely hard, and propelled by 

 4 1 drams of powder, had gone completely through the shoulder of 

 the original bear, and then struck an unseen companion, who must 

 have been some yards distant upon lower ground beyond. The 

 bullet had broken the shoulder of this unlucky friend, and was 

 sticking in its lungs, having carried a bundle of coarse black hair 

 from bear No. 1 and deposited it upon its course in bear No. 2. 



Although these were full-grown bears, there can be little doubt 

 that the bear that had so determinedly attacked the elephant was 

 the mother, infuriated by the roars and howls of her dying 

 offspring. The penetration of the Paradox bullet was highly satis- 

 factory, but I was terribly disgusted with Hurri Ram, whose 

 misconduct had caused the loss of bear No. 3, which would most 

 certainly have been included in the list of killed had I had the 

 chance of only one second's quiet. 



My men were not in the least ashamed when they descended 

 from the trees, as they considered that the better part of valour 

 was discretion. The large spear had been manufactured expressly 

 for this kind of emergency, by a celebrated native cutler, Bhoput 

 of Nagpur. It is always advisable that some powerful and plucky 

 shikari should carry such a weapon for approaching any wounded 

 animal, as accidents generally occur from carelessness, when the 

 animal is supposed to be lying helpless, at the point of death. 

 Such a spear should be 2 feet long, with a blade 3 inches wide, 

 and extremely sharp. There should be a short cross-bar about 22 

 inches from the point, to prevent the spear from running completely 

 through an animal, which could then writhe up the handle, and 

 attack. The socket should be large and long, to admit a very 

 thick male bamboo, as the mistake is too frequently made that the 

 spear is strong, but the handle is too weak. It is very important 



